Lidudumalingani, the latest Caine Prize winner

South African writer, Lidudumalingani, has won the 17th Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story, ‘Memories we Lost.’ Chair of the 2016 judges, Delia Jarrett-Macauley, made the announcement on 4 July 2016 at a dinner at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England. His win, as usual, comes with a cash prize of £10,000 and a month’s residence at Georgetown University as a Writer-in-Residence at the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice.

The winning story, ‘Memories we Lost’, which was published last year in “Incredible Journey: Stories That Move You”, deals with misconceptions about mental illness in a South African village.

“The winning story explores a difficult subject – how traditional beliefs in a rural community are used to tackle schizophrenia,” Jarrett-Macauley said.

Lidudumalingani: a writer, photographer and filmmaker

Lidudumalingani, a writer, filmmaker and photographer, was born in Zikhovane, a village in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. His fiction and non-fiction stories have appeared in various publications and his films have been screened at different film festivals.

Additional perks of winning the Prize include invitations to the Open Book Festival in Cape Town, South Africa, Ake Festival in Abeokuta, Nigeria and Storymoja in Nairobi, Kenya.

The Caine Prize is a short story prize awarded each year to an African writer. Sudanese writer, Leila Aboulela won the inaugural prize in 2000. Other writers who made the 2016 shortlist and received £500 each, are Tope Folarin (Nigeria) for ‘Genesis’, Bongani Kona (Zimbabwe) for ‘At Your Requiem’, Abdul Adan (Somalia/Kenya) for ‘The Lifebloom Gift’ and Lesley Nneka Arimah (Nigeria) for ‘What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky’.

You can read Lidudumalingani’s winning story, ‘Memories We Lost’ here.

Photo: Lidudumalingani/Instagram

Source: ThisIsAfrica